What Was the Reason for Washington to Initiate the Construction of a New Prison in Syria?

The United States has repeatedly emphasized that ISIS prisoners in northeastern Syria are still at risk of escaping, with the organization having cells in the nearby desert. Despite significant security measures and logistical and military support from the international coalition to protect these prisons, which are run by their ally, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), operations by ISIS members have been carried out multiple times, resulting in the deaths of both guards and prisoners.

These prisons hold more than 8,000 ISIS fighters in the governorate of al-Hasakah, adjacent to the borders of Iraq and Turkiye. Currently, there are around 50,000 members of ISIS supposed to be held in the overcrowded al-Hol and Roj camps in the countryside of al-Hasakah.

By the United States’ order, the SDF has detained ISIS members, leaders, their wives, and children in al-Hol camp since March 2019, following Washington’s announcement of the final defeat of the organization in Deir ez-Zor, when hundreds of its members surrendered themselves in its last stronghold in al-Baghuz town in the governorate.

Approximately 5,000 prisoners, including some local second-tier commanders of Syrian and Iraqi nationality, were imprisoned in the Industry prison, while the organization’s princes were isolated from these prisoners in a secret prison in al-Hasakah.

As for the women and children of ISIS, those under the age of ten were detained in the al-Hol camp in eastern al-Hasakah, while children over the age of 12 were sent to the al-Ahdath prison in the village of Tel Marouf, northeast of the governorate.

The Roj camp, located near the city of al-Malikiyah in northern Al-Hasakah, has been designated as a highly sensitive security prison where only the wives and children of ISIS leaders and princes are held.

 

A New Prison

In light of this, the U.S. Department of Defense, known as the Pentagon, wants to demonstrate its responsibility for securing the region by transferring these individuals to a new prison. The United States also wants to inform its partners in the international coalition that approximately 10,000 foreign fighters should be repatriated to their home countries instead of being transferred to the new prison, which will be their destination if they remain in northeast Syria.

According to Intelligence Online, the United States has funded a project to build a new prison in northeast Syria and has tasked the Syrian Democratic Forces with selecting suitable companies for the project. The magazine’s report, published on March 30, 2023, explains that local companies in northeast Syria have been experiencing intense activity since the Department of Defense issued a prerequisite for the construction of a new prison near the town of al-Rmeilan in al-Hasakah Governorate on March 15, 2023.

83% of the territory of al-Hasakah Governorate is controlled by the YPG forces, the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party, which is the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group based in southern Turkiye and northern Iraq, classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara and Washington.

The Syrian regime’s presence in the province is limited to several villages in its countryside, some security and military checkpoints, and the Qamishli Airport, where Russian forces and a group of Iranian Revolutionary Guards are stationed.

The magazine pointed out that the budget of the prison project ranges between 25 and 100 million dollars over two years, and it is a rare opportunity in light of the economic stagnation experienced by the northeast region of Syria. Potential contractors are encouraged to form alliances in the period preceding the award of the contract.

While funding the project, the Pentagon authorized the SDF forces to make the initial selection of contractors and to implement the project in cooperation with the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Specifically, the U.S. Special Operations Command is working with a monitoring and evaluation committee established by the Self-Administration of Northeast Syria, headed by the Kurdish official Mustafa Hasan.

Hasan was asked to audit local companies based on security and financial compliance standards and has already formed a list of 23 companies approved to submit bids for the project, according to Intelligence Online.

In order to participate in this rare project, those companies are negotiating partnerships with each other to enhance their chances.

Atlas Construction Company, led by Mustafa Hasan, is looking to form an alliance with Shan Company, Dar Construction, and United Company.

The latter is one of the leading companies in the field of logistics, construction, and maintenance services in the region, led by Zana Ali. If this partnership does not succeed, Atlas and the others may submit individual bids.

 

Army in Custody

Since expanding into Syria in early 2014, the Islamic State (I.S.) has been able to make the Syrian desert a home for its cells, where it has been permanently stationed since its defeat by Syrian regime forces in late 2017, and its expulsion from Deir ez-Zor, Mayadin, and al-Bukamal.

According to a report by the United Nations published in February 2022, I.S. maintains a large covert presence in Iraq and Syria.

The report stated that the group still has a total of ten thousand active fighters in these two countries alone.

The attack on a prison in al-Hasakah province happened on January 20, 2022. The prison held thousands of I.S. prisoners. Despite consolidating its forces from its cells, I.S. carried out the attack.

There is a risk of a similar breach happening again in these prisons as long as I.S. cells continue to roam in the desert that extends to the Iraqi border. I.S. managed to make a security breach during the attack, and dozens of prisoners were able to escape.

The unstable detention arrangements for I.S. elements in northeastern Syria also push Washington to increase its security grip there by making the prisoner file more organized and from one prison.

The commander of U.S. operations in the Middle East, General Michael Corella, revealed in statements to the press on September 12, 2022, that the population of al-Hol camp is about 54,000, including about 27,000 Iraqis, half of whom are Syrian, and 8,500 foreigners, referring to those who are “neither Iraqis nor Syrians.”

Corella added that the challenge now lies in that about 50% of the camp’s population mourns the I.S. organization and believes in its despicable ideology, while 50% are those who have nowhere else to live and want to return to their homeland.

Despite repeated calls and warnings from international organizations about the “disastrous” situation in the al-Hol camp, most countries refuse to repatriate their citizens.

According to a recent statement by a humanitarian aid worker, the situation requires a compassionate approach, as there is no military solution to this issue. The aid worker suggests that rehabilitating and integrating these individuals is the only solution.

 

Security Deficit

While Iraqi courts have issued hundreds of death or life imprisonment sentences for those accused of belonging to the organization, the Kurdish self-administration in northeast Syria warns that it does not have the sufficient capabilities to continue detaining them, let alone to try them.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also demand that concerned countries repatriate the families of the detained organization members, especially those held in the al-Hol camp, which witnesses killings, chaos, and security incidents.

In March 2022, news reports stated that the Syrian Democratic Forces had transferred over a thousand Islamic State prisoners from a prison in the town of Shaddadi, located south of al-Hasakah province.

These prisoners were moved to a stricter prison that was built with U.S. and British funding, as London spent $20 million to build fortified prisons, according to reports.

The United Nations, UNICEF, and Human Rights Watch have previously called for these detainees to be transferred to well-managed prisons and specialized centers for receiving children.

They emphasized in press statements that the conditions of the detainees in the Industry Prison in the Syrian province of Hasakah were often inhumane and life-threatening, characterized by extreme overcrowding, limited access to outdoor areas and sunlight, and insufficient medicine and food.

On March 10, 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a resolution calling for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria within 6 months, warning that this could allow the Islamic State to regain its activities and endanger the United States.

Washington’s concerns seem to coincide with the presence of activities by Islamic State cells in the rural havens of Deir ez-Zor in the section controlled by SDF on the left bank of the Euphrates River, which is believed to be preparing to launch attacks on prison facilities.

The group seeks to release its elements and sympathizers from prisons and IDP camps, as this provides it with experienced fighters to improve its capabilities, according to military observers.

 

New Guantanamo

In this context, the Syrian military analyst and expert, Colonel Ismail Ayoub, believes that the amount allocated indicates that this new prison is more like the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.”

Therefore, many questions arise here: Why doesn’t the United States rehabilitate ISIS elements instead of throwing them in prisons, as they previously did with prisoners from Iraq and Afghanistan? And so, this prison may be the alternative to Guantanamo, according to Ayoub in his interview with Al-Estiklal.

Ayoub added: “ISIS is present, but it is linked to global intelligence agendas to provide a justification for carrying out acts that can only be done with the existence of such organizations.”

He pointed out that “the establishment of a Kurdish canton in northeastern Syria, in the richest region in the country, which contains oil, agriculture, and water, necessarily requires the creation of a fabricated and infiltrated terrorist organization.”

Ayoub also noted that “when the Syrian city of Raqqa fell from the hands of ISIS under the blows of the international coalition at the end of 2017, the organization’s members were transported in trucks to the Baghuz area near the Iraqi border, which indicates its existence to implement international agendas.”

The military analyst believes that “it is more advisable to allocate such an amount to build universities, institutes, and spread education and qualify the generation there, especially in light of the security chaos in Syria, which resulted from the Assad regime’s suppression of the revolution and forcing young people to carry arms, which means that there is a need to qualify the area and set priorities.”

He added: “The United States supports the establishment of a Kurdish separatist canton in northeastern Syria in an area with an Arab majority, as the Kurds constitute only 24% of the total population of al-Hasakah governorate.”

In general, the SDF forces that control a third of Syria with American support do not represent more than 10% of the Kurds in their areas, in addition to the fact that their leaders come from the Qandil Mountains and follow the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, according to Ayoub.

The spokesman for the Syrian opposition tribes and clans council, Mudar Hammad al-Assad, confirmed that “the United States wants to make the Jazira and Euphrates region, especially Syria, a large prison for mercenaries, terrorist gangs, and extremists of all nationalities and ethnicities, instead of building agricultural, industrial, and educational projects. They are building massive prisons and detention centers.”

Al-Asaad added in a statement to Al-Estiklal: “Washington’s move is an alternative to rehabilitating the region, restoring security and stability to northeastern Syria, returning the displaced persons, and holding accountable those who committed crimes against the Syrian people.” He pointed out that instead of “stopping the supply of weapons and military equipment to the terrorist SDF militias, they authorize them to build new prisons.”

He added: “This is a negative situation for the Syrian people and not a positive one for the region with its tribal structure, where multiple ethnicities and components live.”

Al-Asaad concluded by saying that “the proposed amount of up to $100 million allocated for building prisons is enough to rebuild the area after dismantling the SDF militias, which helps to eliminate poverty and deprivation experienced by the area rich in spots and agricultural production, and to have the area under the leadership of its sons.”